The Hunt
by TheSovereigntyofReality
Summary: How likely is it really for Marion to be a Slayer? Actually pretty likely. Indy/Marion. Set during 'Portal Through Time'. Warning: I don't like Angel but I don't flame him too much. I only own Nick and the Clanners. As if I would own the others.
1. Uncalled For

**Cairo, Egypt, 1924**

Nick Balinger marched through the streets of Cairo, with something in mind. Something very important. He soon spotted Indiana Jones watching Marion Ravenwood go through the sales on the stall. He grinned and whistled. Indy and Marion twisted around and Indy grinned when he saw Nick making his way over.

Even though he was out of earshot, Nick knew when Marion spoke to Indy, she was asking who Nick was and Indy told her—straight up. Nick was the Sovereign of the 20th Century. That meant it was his responsibility to preserve all of reality for the duration of the 20th century by means of knowing _everything_ without _anyone_ telling him _anything_, advanced mental powers, wielding the Impenetrable Barrier and the inability to age, lie or die.

Marion looked over at him in interest. Indy, knowing it was pointless to hide it from him, dropped his arm over Marion's shoulders. Marion realised the same thing and reached up and caught Indy's hand, leaning into him. Nick came over to them.

"Hey, Indy." Nick greeted, "This must be Marion?"

"Like you don't already know." Indy chuckled.

"Point taken." Nick agreed, "I also know about a problem you have that you're not aware of."

"Which is?" Indy asked.

"I don't suppose you've heard of the Slayer?" Nick asked.

"No." Indy answered, "Not _the_ Slayer. Probably not in the context you mean it."

"It's on a succession basis." Nick explained, "One dies another gets the power. Basically a lone warrior. There is more detail to it. The current Slayer lives in Holland and is called Mathilde."

Indy registered it right away.

"That's a girl." He said.

"And she's just sixteen." Nick agreed, "She'll die next year. About a year of being the Slayer. That's the way it goes. The Watcher's Council try to keep Slayers isolated so they don't last long enough to realise the corruption of that little organisation."

"Corrupt?" Marion asked.

"Putting it mildly." Nick said, "They say they're fighting against the forces of darkness but most of their battles are fought and won by the Slayer, who's always little more than a child."

"Why are you telling us this?" Indy asked.

"Because in 1996, a vampire calling himself the Master is killed by a Slayer called Buffy—don't ask about the name; I don't know what her parents were on when they called her that." Nick explained, "In 1999 two of his followers will try to stop that girl from ever being called by coming back in time and prematurely wiping off four prominent Slayers. The last three they tried all survived their attacks so they thought they'd get to a Slayer before she was called."

Indy and Marion both realised what he was saying at the same time.

**Sunnydale, USA, 1999**

"1924?" Carly Alice picked up the paper, "Cairo? That doesn't make sense. The Slayer in 1924 was Dutch. And she never went anywhere near Cairo."

Giles looked up at her and then moved over to a bookshelf. He pulled a book from the shelf and opened it. After a minute of searching, he looked up at Carly.

"That is correct." He said, "I am impressed, Carly. I didn't expect you to know a thing like that."

"That doesn't surprise me." Carly shrugged, "But think about it. They've obviously taken a change of strategy."

"What do you mean?" Giles asked.

"They were too accurate the last three times." Carly said, "Right time, right place. Why the mistake now? They surely have a list. It's not the Slayer in 1924 that we should be worried about. It's her successor."

Giles looked down at the book.

"1925 to 1929." He murmured in understanding, "The Lost Slayer."

"One of the few Slayers the Watcher's Council never found." Carly agreed, "But my great-grandparents were the ones who trained her. That's how I know who she is."

"And who is she?" Angel asked.

"Marion Ravenwood." Carly answered, "Daughter of Professor Abner Ravenwood, an archaeologist obsessed with the Ark of the Covenant and the wife of Doctor Indiana Jones, an archaeologist with an insane amount of luck."

"She got married?" Buffy demanded.

"Two years into her calling." Carly shrugged. She turned to Giles, "The reason the Watcher's Council never found her was because she and Jones moved around a lot of the time for the four years she was active. It took them a year to find Buffy—"

She gestured to the current Slayer.

"—and she was in one spot the whole time."

"How did your great-grandparents find her?" Giles asked.

"They didn't." Carly said, "_She and Jones_ found them and she asked to be trained."

"Why didn't they go to the Watcher's Council?" Willow asked, "Did they just go to the first people who had answers for them?"

"No." Carly said, "When Jones was 14, he met the Sovereign of the 20th Century and two became friends. In 1924, for reasons unknown, the Sovereign went to Indiana Jones and Marion Ravenwood and _told_ them about the calling of the Slayer. He told them that Marion was the next Slayer. A few days after that, Marion ran away from home and went to my rellies in New York. About a month later, Jones joined her."

"Why'd they do it like that?" Xander asked.

"To avoid suspicion." Sarah Rouge said, "Why else?"

"I'm afraid Carly maybe correct in her theory." Giles said, "They have changed tactics. With Carly's knowledge on the matter, we may be able to track down Marion Ravenwood and Dr. Jones. Carly, what did you mean when you said Dr. Jones had an insane amount of luck?"

"That's something you have to see to believe." Carly chuckled, "Shall we go?"

Giles set him book down and began the incantation.

**Cairo, Egypt, 1924**

No sooner had Nick finished his explanation that they were attacked, but not by the vampires. Nick theorised that because it was daytime in the desert, the assassins were using cronies to do their dirty work for them before Nick's successor and company showed up. Apparently that lot were coming to try to help the targeted Slayers kill the assassins, which was why all three previous attacks had failed.

Indy, thinking fast, grabbed Marion and pulled her out of the way, swinging her onto a cart and twisting around, pulling out his whip as he prepared to fight off the supernatural assailants. Nick checked the front of the cart before he snapped his fingers and a very sharp sword appeared in his hand.

"They're simple Harash Demons." Nick told him calmly, "Your whip should be enough to kill them. Just take off their heads. But don't try to shoot them. Most demons are resistant to bullets."

"Thanks for the warning." Indy said, drawing his whip back.

_Kuh-RACK!_

_Kuh-RACK!_

_Kuh-RACK!_

He found he had to yank fairly hard, but the whip still easily removed the heads of the demons. If Indy had any doubts of what he'd heard from Nick, they were well and truly squashed now.

"Indy!"

Indy twisted around and saw a demon had snuck past them and was jumping at Marion…

_Kuh-RACK!_

…and he lost his head.

Indy jumped up onto the cart with Marion and stood over her as he continued cracking his whip and beheading any demons stupid enough to come near _his_ girl. As he snapped the whip around, he noticed Nick slicing the blade through the necks of the demons and getting quite a bit of blood on his clothes. The fight lasted no more than a few minutes before Indy noticed the demons were all gone. Nick stuck his sword in the ground and leaned on the handle.

"Not bad, Jones." He said, "Not bad at all. Especially for a first timer."

Indy rolled his eyes. Then he pulled Marion up and looked her over.

"You all right, honey?" he asked.

"Yeah." She nodded.

Anything more she would have said was interrupted by a loud noise and a light that dumped six people in the middle of the abandoned street. Out of the six, only two managed to land on their feet. The one with chocolate brown hair looked at the blonde girl and leaned over her.

"That must've been embarrassing." She remarked wryly, "A Slayer who can't land on her own two feet."

"Shaddup." The blonde muttered.

The girl chuckled and stood up. She took in the sight of the broken demon bodies before her and then looked at Nick and then at Indy and Marion. She planted her hands on her hips and pulled a sheepish expression.

"You'll forgive our tardiness, I hope." She said, "The spell isn't really that specific. We just followed them here."

Indy looked at Nick and saw the Sovereign was grinning from ear-to-ear.

"Not at all, kiddo." He said, "That's the thing with magic. If it doesn't have disastrous consequences, it has bloody awful timing."

"I assume this is your successor?" Indy asked.

"Yeah." Nick agreed, "This is Carly Alice."

"Carly." The older man that came with her spoke up, "You're the Sovereign of the 21st Century and you never said a word?"

"But, Giles." Carly smirked, "You didn't ask."


	2. Jones & Ravenwood

Carly had heard all about Abner Ravenwood, so it came to no surprise to her when Indy—yes, she was technically on a first-name basis with the man—brought them to the camp, he was waiting for them.

"Henry," Abner said, "I heard there was a fight in town. There was something about a whip, so I'm assuming you were involved."

Indy shook his head in excellent faux confusion.

"Bunch of nutcases." He said, "Just attacked us without any reason. Nick's an old friend of mine and he gave me a hand."

"Ah." Abner nodded and looked at Nick, "That's a lot of blood."

"Like Indy said: nutcases." Nick responded, "And they were very violent nutcases."

"The shower's in that direction if you want to wash." He offered, pointing.

"I will." Nick said, "Once I'm sure my sister's all right."

The Sovereign couldn't lie, but they could stretch the truth. Carly was Nick's Sovereignty Sister, not his literal one. She pressed her lips together and looked at Abner morosely. Abner seemed to accept that. He turned to his daughter, almost as if she was an afterthought.

"Marion, I trust you weren't hurt?"

"No, I wasn't." Marion answered, looking like she'd like to hit him.

Carly glanced at Indy and saw his face was passive, but there was an undertone of anger in his eyes. Clearly, he thought the same thing that Carly did: Marion should have been Abner's first priority, not the amount of blood on Nick's clothes and making him feel comfortable.

_That's true._ Nick thought. _Good thing they won't have to put up with him for much longer._

_Oh, that's right._ Carly thought back, remembering. _They're gonna leave for New York soon, aren't they?_

_Yeah._

Abner offered to let them stay in the camp. Nick, Xander and Giles would be forced to share a tent and Carly, Sarah, Willow and Buffy would have to share with Marion. Carly suspected Nick had something to do with that. But it was a good guard; two demon hunters, a novice witch and a Slayer guarding one girl. Not too bad. Indy looked relieved when Abner organised that. He clearly saw the benefits too.

Nick walked out of the shower and to Indy's tent, knowing the archaeologist would want to talk to him. Indy didn't even look up when the Sovereign came in. He just remained slumped on his bunk. Nick sat on the chair in the tent, turning it around so he could rest his arms on the backrest.

"I could've lost her today." Indy murmured suddenly.

"It'll be worse next year." Nick told him, "Part of being the Slayer is the irresistible urge to fight. They have to fight or they can't live."

"How old is that Slayer that came with your successor?" Indy asked.

"18." Nick answered.

"She looks older." Indy murmured, shaking his head, "Is that what's going to happen to Marion?"

"Buffy's…an unusual Slayer." Nick said, "Before she was called she was a shallow, high-priced cheerleader with a stick shoved up her ass. She sucks up to her friends so they won't walk away from her just like her last set of friends did. Can you see Marion doing that?"

"No." Indy smiled lightly.

"The Watcher's Council like to keep the Slayer alone so she gets a death wish." Nick explained, "She thinks 'hey, the only way to stop this is to die. No one cares about me, no one will miss me and there's going to be someone to pick up the slack'. They especially want defiant Slayers to think like that. Slayers who don't say 'yes, sir' everytime they're told something."

"Marion doesn't even do that for her father." Indy said, "Why would she do it for a bunch of men she doesn't even know?"

"Exactly." Nick agreed, "You know as well as I do that she'd be defiant."

"I'm not leaving her alone." Indy said.

"I didn't think you would for a second." Nick grinned, "That's what I've always liked about you, Indy. You're open-minded. Most human men, even soldiers, would desert the girl upon hearing this—in fact, some have. They can't stand the fact that this girl is not 'normal', by their definition. They can't stand the fact that they could get whipped by a little girl. You can. You're more worried about how she feels about it, not how you feel about it."

Indy grinned. Nick looked at the tent wall.

"It's a popular belief that the Slayer cannot date a regular human." He told him, "A lot of people think it's because regular humans can't take a Slayer's power. But that's only true for most men because they can't take the fact that a girl—usually a petite one—could kick their asses."

"And I don't have that problem?" Indy asked.

"What do you think?" Nick asked, "When you think about it, what's the first thing that comes into your head?"

Indy paused.

"Marion doesn't deserve this." He murmured.

"No girl deserves this." Nick agreed, "She'll die young. Whole lives just ripped away from little girls simply because a bunch of smarmy, spineless British pricks can't fight their own battle."

"Is there another option?" Indy asked.

Nick looked at him, wordlessly asking him to explain his question.

"I don't want those bastards anywhere near Marion." Indy said, "If I understand you right, this is going to happen to Marion next year and none of us have a choice. Is there someway she can be trained for it without involving any Watchers?"

"Yes." Nick nodded, "There is. Carly and Sarah are part of it. They're demon hunters. Part of the RA Clan actually. The RA Clan push their kids to the maximum of their human potential and then they allow them to say 'no' to the family tradition. A lot better than the Watcher's Council, I'll tell you that. And they _hate_ how the Watcher's Council does things."

"How likely are the Watcher's Council to find us?" Indy asked, leaning back.

"Well, with this little incident?" Nick responded, "Very likely. Unless you guys hit the road very quickly afterwards. Or she does, at least."

"One more question." Indy said.

"Where do you find the RA Clan?" Nick didn't wait for his nod of affirmation, "The most convenient one for you is the one in New York. That's also the one Carly's great-grandparents are at."

Indy paused.

"Carly and Sarah don't seem to like the rest of them all that much." He remarked.

"Sarah's only there out of loyalty to Carly. Those two are like this." Nick twisted his fingers together, "Carly's there as part of her training to be the next Sovereign. She has to learn to deal with her worst image of people without killing them. That's Buffy and company. They've been taught the supernatural in the typical method. Which is actually completely sterotypical."

Buffy knew she couldn't say anything to Marion about her future. Truth to tell, Carly hadn't told her much. Just things that, Buffy could now see, were a given.

What surprised Buffy the most was that Indiana Jones was probably ten years older than Marion and yet he still looked at her like she was the most precious thing in the world. It was…intense, to say the least. Buffy couldn't remember ever being looked at like that. Not even by Angel.

"What's the matter with you?" Carly asked.

Buffy looked at her. She was sitting on her cot, holding a stake, prepared for the vampire assassins. Buffy studied her. Carly and Sarah had always been the black sheep of the group. They never seemed to fit in and only seemed to be there because they had to be. They both also acted very stupid. So stupid, in fact, that Buffy had never considered them being proactive and reliable like this, but she guessed it drove the point of not judging a book by its cover home.

"He's ten years older than her." Buffy remarked.

Carly's eyebrows flew up and she smirked at her for a moment before she spoke.

"Buffy, I hate to tell you this…" she cut herself off, "Oh, who am I kidding? I _love_ telling you this: you're the biggest hypocrite I've ever met!"

"Hypocrite?" Buffy asked, confused, causing Carly to roll her eyes.

"A hypocrite is a person who reproaches behaviour of someone else when he or she is guilty of the same behaviour." She clarified, "Your bloody boyfriend is over 200 years older than you."

"Point taken." Buffy clicked her tongue, "But I once heard you tell Xander that Slayers and regular humans were non-mixy."

"Specifically, I said he was too normal to successfully have a romantic relationship with you." Carly corrected, "Okay, so, it's a popular opinion that regular humans and Slayers cannot conduct an affair successfully. But that's just a myth. The truth is most human men can't take the fact that the Slayer is more powerful than them and that the calling takes first place over everything else. Indiana Jones is not an ordinary human. He can take these two facts. In fact, that's what initially attracted him to her."

"How do you know that?" Buffy asked.

"Nick told me." Carly answered.

"And you take Nick's word for gospel?" Buffy demanded skeptically.

"Sure." Carly shrugged, "And, starting next year, you'll have to take _my_ word for gospel."

"Why?"

"Do you want to know what happens when the word of the Sovereign is dismissed?" Carly challenged, "The Empire of Ghengis Khan; the Rise of the Roman Empire; the Holocaust—which hasn't even happened yet. If you look deep enough into those, and in the right places, you'll find they occurred _because_ a Sovereign was ignored. Don't get me wrong. The Sovereigns don't do it. They advise people against it so it doesn't happen. People don't listen and it happens."

Buffy froze as she processed this. From Carly's tone of voice and the look on her face, she was dead serious.

"That is a really good reason to listen to somebody." She remarked.

"Isn't it just." Carly agreed, "Now, go to sleep. I'll wake you up in two hours. I reckon we ought to take turns doing sentry in case those vamps come tonight."

_Why didn't I think of that?_ Buffy wondered, lying down to sleep.


	3. The Attack

Abner Ravenwood trusted Henry Jones Junior. That was why he let Nick and company stay as long as they needed, which was probably one night. But what Abner didn't expect that night was to smell smoke. He ran out and could see Henry standing with Nick and the other two men. Henry was looking towards the fire with a pair of binoculars. Abner made his way over to them and glanced at the fire, which was alarmingly close.

"Henry, do we know what started that fire?" Abner asked.

"Probably arson." Henry answered, lowering the binoculars, "Only way a fire could start that quickly."

"That means someone's either trying to flush someone out or clear the area." Nick concluded, taking the binoculars from Henry and peering at the fire, "Judging from the size and distance, I'd say we got about five minutes before this whole camp is up in flames."

Abner held his hand out and Nick gave him the binoculars. Abner looked and decided Nick's assumption was right on the money. In five minutes, the whole camp would be up in flames. They had to leave.

"Henry, can you get Marion out of here?" Abner asked, "If they're trying to clear the camp, they must want something here. Undoubtedly the artifacts."

He ran off, barely hearing the boy, whom he didn't know the name of, ask,

"Is he for real?"

_Indy!_ Nick thought to the archaeologist as they ran. _I've got an idea. That's why we're taking the most direct root for Cairo. They'll cut us off at the pass. Then we split off. They'll follow after Marion, obviously, so you'll probably want to stick to her. I'm gonna get Carly and Sarah and be a bit practical._

Indy knew what he meant.

"Split!" Nick yelled.

Indy pulled Marion in one direction. Carly, Sarah and Nick ran in another direction. The rest of them kept running forwards as the two vampires appeared in front of them. Buffy attacked them as Indy kept pulling Marion, but she was keeping up with him pretty damn well.

"Do you know where we're going?" Marion called.

"Not exactly." He admitted, "Did Nick tell you what we're doing?"

"Yeah, but..."

She yelled out as the ground beneath their feet suddenly and unexpectedly gave way and they both fell.

Marion felt her body fall through the air and prepared herself for the impact of the fall, but she only half-fell. Indy somehow managed to recover enough to get his arms under her and half-catch her. Her arms automatically wrapped around his neck and she was aware he was half-crouched on the ground.

Somehow Marion knew every muscle in his body was tensed and she looked up and into his hazel eyes. He was glancing around the floor fearfully. She knew her Indy enough to know what would cause that particular reaction and looked around.

Sure enough, the floor was carpeted with snakes. They were probably venomous snakes, knowing the Egyptian wildlife. She rubbed the back of his neck soothingly and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Indiana Jones." She chuckled, "We are being chased by some vampire assassins from the future and you are worried about a few snakes."

"You call that 'a few'?" Indy demanded, sounding incredulous.

She looked again.

"Okay." She conceded, "A few hundred."

She leaned up and kissed his jaw. He relaxed slightly.

"How about we get out of here before those two show up?" Marion suggested, still smiling in amusement.

Indy stood them both up and spotted an extinguished torch mounted to the wall. It came free easily enough. Indy patted his pockets for a moment before he found his lighter and lit the torch. He could see a doorway across the chamber but had no idea if it was the way out or a way deeper into the tombs they were in. Nethertheless, he took Marion's hand and led her through the chamber and he waved the torch as he moved. Marion kept close behind him. As soon as he got to the door, Indy passed Marion the flame torch.

"Turn around and wave that at anything that slithers." Indy told her.

"This whole place is slithering." Marion protested, but complied.

Indy turned to the door and pushed it. To his relief, it moved and opened up to the desert.

"Come on, baby." he caught her around the waist, "Drop the torch and let's get out of here."

Marion dropped the torch and allowed Indy to lead her out. But they were in for a nasty surprise.

"Aw!" a voice above them hissed, "How sweet!"

They twisted around. One of the vampires was on the roof of the structure they'd just come out of. They both heard the dust kick up as the other vampire blocked their exit.

Indy pulled Marion close to his side. His eyes flickered between both vampires, waiting for the first one to attack. It was the one blocking their exit. He was big and looked like he could've ground Indy into the dirt when he was human.

Indy pushed Marion behind him and moved forward to meet the vampire. Instinctively, Marion twisted around to face the other vampire, who was studying her in passive interest. It was almost like a lion might study a doe before attacking.

Indy took a blow to the jaw and recoiled. But Marion was on the line here, so he bounced back and threw his fist into the huge vampire's nose. His head snapped back and he yelled in pain, blood spilling from his nose. But a quick shake of the head and he was looking at Indy again.

"I underestimated you, human." He announced, "I won't make that mistake again."

Then Indy was suspended from the vampire's arm and he was struggling to breathe around the iron grip.

"Indy!" Marion yelled, her focus on the other vampire breaking as she twisted around.

Indy would have yelled out to her if he could draw enough air into his lungs as the vampire lurched out and pinned her to the ground. But Marion was his girl and she drew her elbow back, throwing it into the vampire's jaw.

"Oh." The vampire holding him aloft by his neck hissed in mock-affection, "You care about her so very much. Such a pity it all has to end on such a tragic note. Don't worry, mate. You are of no consequence to us. You can live."

He threw Indy away and turned his back while Indy was still airborne. Summoning strength he never knew he had, he pulled his whip free and…

_Kuh-RACK!_

It coiled around the big vampire's neck so that, as Indy flew back, the big vampire was beheaded. Indy barely saw him fall to dust as he hit the ground hard. He would have laid there to collect his bearings but…

_Marion._

She was still fighting that other one. Indy staggered to his feet and bolted towards them.

Marion tried to keep him off her. It was all she could do. And she hated not being able to do more. Then the vampire overpowered her and she felt the excruciating pain of him biting her to the bone and sucking her blood out of her body.

"Marion!"

_Indy…_ she thought.

Indy was coming, but she had to get this bastard off. She got her legs underneath him and pushed, somehow managing to kick him off. She clamped her hand to her neck where he'd bitten and watched him sail through the air. He began to twist around when a small, wooden stake sailed through the air, spinning quickly, and imbedded itself into his heart. He fell to dust. Then Indy was beside her, his arms around her, helping her into a sitting position.

"Are you all right, baby?" he asked.

"Little dizzy." She said, leaning her head on his shoulder, "But I'll live."

They both looked up and saw Carly standing on the roof, staring at where the vampire had been killed with a grin on her face.

"Bloody hell, I've been waiting to do that." she remarked.

Marion sat by Indy's bedside in the motel room Abner had gotten. Abner was downstairs talking to the local authorities. He had no idea about the group up there.

Indy had gotten quite a battering and Marion was tending to his wounds. She'd promised a long kiss and a Marion-pillow if he didn't whine so he was biting his lip to keep from complaining.

"The RA Clan in New York are waiting on you, Marion." Nick told her, "They've got no protestations against you getting your training from them."

"And the odds of the Watcher's Council finding you are slim to nothing, never mind your old man." Carly added. She glanced over her shoulder, "Well, we'd better get going. Don't want Peaches to think we're dead, do we, Buffy?"

"Why do you call him that?" Buffy demanded.

"Because it's an awesome nickname." Carly beamed.

"She doesn't like him." Nick supplied.

"Neither do you." Carly laughed, "Nick, if you'll send us on our way?"

He snapped his fingers and they were gone. Nick turned to Indy and Marion.

"I'll leave you two alone." He said.

He walked out the door and Marion grinned at Indy. He looked up at her hopefully and asked,

"Baby, please tell me you're done." He said.

She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, kissing him deeply. His tongue invaded her mouth as he reciprocated and pulled her down onto his chest. She felt warmth flood through her as his hands started wandering over her body. Suddenly he pulled away and cupped her face.

"Be sure, honey." He told her, "I don't want us to do anything you'll regret."

"After tonight, we're not going to see each other for a month." She responded, "I want you to make love to me, Indiana Jones."

Indy pulled her back down rolled her over so he was on top.

"Forgive the corny line." He muttered, his lips millimetres away from hers, "But your wish is my command."

Marion lost herself in the feeling of his lips on hers and tugged his belt loose.


	4. MIA

**Manhattan, USA, 1924**

Marion Ravenwood had never known that you could make such rigorous training fun, but James and Tina Alice and Richard and Alison Rouge somehow managed to work it like that. But it wasn't just fighting they taught her, it was also theory. They taught her how to tell a hostile demon from a demon that was merely protecting its offspring. They taught her various languages used in the supernatural world. They taught her how to use the most practical weapons to a Slayer and they taught her how to improvise weapons. But the most important thing they taught her was a healthy respect for all demon diets. Something most Slayers didn't have.

Marion could honestly say that she'd never imagined her life turning out like this. As she learned more about the Slayer, she wondered if the calling was the best thing that could ever happen to her. She spoke to Tina about it as she trained with the boxing bag with nothing more than bandages wrapped around her knuckles.

"That's an unusual view from an unfound." Tina remarked, "What makes you think the Slayer calling is the best thing that could ever happen to you?"

"I never really minded the travelling." Marion explained, "It was the fact that I was practically like luggage to Abner that bothered me. To him, I was just something that needed to be taken care of from time to time."

"The sad truth about Slayers." Tina agreed, "That's how their folks treat them."

"Is that why my mom died?" Marion asked.

"Pardon?"

"I remember my mom." Marion explained, "Before she died, she used to yell at dad about treating me more like a pet than a daughter. She was my best friend. Did she die because she didn't treat me like that?"

"You have to ask a Representative of the Powers that." Tina told her, "Maybe. The Powers are known for screwing people over just so a situation suits them. The main thing you've got to remember is that they do it to keep the world in one piece."

Marion nodded.

"The only good thing about my life after that was Indiana Jones." She went on, "And this Slayer thing…he's standing by me through it and it's given me an excuse to get away from Abner. When Indy gets here…we won't have to hide anymore."

"Because of the Watcher's Council, the Slayer has very little happiness in her life." Tina agreed, "Next to none, in fact. If Indiana Jones is what you want, we'd be the last people to stop you."

**Cairo, Egypt, 1924**

"Henry."

Indiana Jones looked over his shoulder and saw Abner with two men in three-piece tweed suits standing there.

"These two are from the Department of Missing Persons." Abner told him, "They have a few questions for you so they can find Marion."

Indy stood up and faced them. Abner had no idea where Marion was, much less who these two were. All Abner knew was Marion was gone and Indy had gotten a job offer in New York from an old friend that he'd be taking in less than a month.

"Professor Ravenwood!" someone called from outside.

Abner reluctantly went to answer them, leaving Indy alone with the two men he was sure were Watchers.

"When was the last time you saw Miss Ravenwood?" the first one asked.

"Didn't Abner tell you?" Indy asked, "The day before she disappeared."

"I believe a fire also broke out on that day?" the other one asked, "Professor Ravenwood asked you to escort Miss Ravenwood to a safe location."

"And so I did." Indy responded.

"But you arrived dirty, beaten and bloody." The first one challenged, "And Miss Ravenwood had some blood on her neck. You told Professor Ravenwood that you ran into some thugs and had to fight them off. When Miss Ravenwood's neck was cleaned, twin puncture marks were discovered."

Indy smirked.

"Are you suggesting we were attacked by vampires?" he asked doubtfully.

"Yes," the second one said, "we are."

"You must be from the Watcher's Council, then." Indy said, turning his back on them.

"How can you know that?" the first one demanded.

Indy didn't have to be looking at them to know about their looks of shock that were directed at him.

"I've got friends in certain circles." Indy answered, "If you want me to tell you where Marion is, you're talking to the wrong man."

"You don't know?" the first Watcher asked.

"I do know." Indy corrected, "I just won't tell you."

"And how do you plan to stop us simply extracting the information from your brain?" the second Watcher challenged.

Indy turned and smirked at them. Nick appeared right beside him and leaned on his shoulder.

"Chisholm, Arnold." Nick greeted with a wide smirk, "It's been a while. Do you remember me?"

"Nicholas Balinger?" the first one murmured.

"The Sovereign of the 20th Century." The second one stated.

"I'm so sorry." Nick apologised insincerely, "But this particular girl is off-limits. The Watcher's Council are not permitted to set eyes on her within the next five to ten years."

"She's not going to be called then?" the first watcher asked.

Nick smirked.

"I didn't say that, Arnold." He sneered, "I just said the girl was off-limits."

"We are the Watch—" Chisholm began indignantly, but Nick cut him off.

"And I'm the Sovereign of the 20th Century!" he snapped, "I have my orders and _these_ orders are a pleasure to carry out! The Watcher's Council are not quite as good as they imagine themselves to be. They're a bunch of stuck-up cowards that hide behind little girls."

"I'll second that." Indy said, turning his fury-filled gaze to them, "Now, get out of here before I tell Abner you're prattling on about vampires."

Chisholm and Arnold looked at each other before turning their attention back to Indy.

"You haven't heard the last of it!" Arnold snapped at Indy.

"I wasn't listening to the first of it." Indy responded, going back to his work.

They waited for the men to walk away. Then Indy looked up at Nick.

"What do you think they're going to do now?" he asked.

"Well, they won't bother us again." Nick said, "But the Powers and I have a unanimous agreement to keep them away from Marion. By Carly's time, Marion's referred to as the Lost Slayer because the Watcher's Council never found her. The only reason Carly and Sarah knew who she was is because that lot we sent her to. They're Carly's _and_ Sarah's great-grandparents."

"Good." Indy murmured.

**Manhattan, New York**

Alison was the one who let Indy in and took him into the gym where Marion was training. He was aware that Alison didn't follow him in and he stopped at the door and leaned on the doorframe to watch her. She was beautiful to him at anytime. But, he decided, she was glorious when she was like that and he was happy to watch her. but it didn't take long for her to notice she was being watched.

She turned around and grinned when she saw him.

"Indiana Jones." She chuckled, "How long have you been standing there?"

"About five minutes." He answered, crossing over to her.

"Having a good perve?" she asked playfully.

"You know it, baby." he agreed.

"Good." She grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pulled him down, "Give me a kiss."

He caught her lips in a passionate kiss and wrapped his arms around her waist as her arms wound around his neck. He felt her tongue push its way into his mouth and groaned. Unable to resist, he lifted her up and onto the balance beam they had there. She locked her legs around his hips. He trailed his lips down to her jaw and then along her neck.

"I missed you, honey." He breathed against her skin.

"I missed you more." She breathed, nipping the shell of his ear.

He shook his head.

"Not possible." He insisted, trailing his lips over her collarbone.

She gasped and arched her neck, pulling him closer and tightening her grip on him.

"You know, you are sharing a bedroom." James Alice said from behind them, "You don't need to screw each other in here."

Indy reluctantly pulled away and he and Marion looked in the doorway. Both James and Richard were standing there, looking as amused as Indy was sure he'd be if he walked in on two people frenching-bordering-on-sex.

"And I don't think that balance beam is a very good place for it either." Richard added, "You're liable to fall off."

"You and Alison would know." James laughed at him.

"Shut up, you son of a syphilic whore." Richard groaned, dropping his head back.

* * *

><p>AN: I know I put a MASH reference in this chapter. I didn't do it intentionally, though. |X<p> 


End file.
